DDP is the maximum-obligation rule: the seller arranges and pays everything through to the named place, including import clearance, duty and import VAT or GST. Risk passes on arrival at the named place, duty paid, ready for unloading.
Carriers, agents and brokers bill the party named on the transport document. On a DDP purchase that is usually the buyer, even though the contract puts the cost on the seller. Each of these is recoverable when the term and the paperwork are put side by side.
01 · billed by Shipping agent local-charges statement
The agent bills the consignee named on the bill of lading by default, regardless of the sales term. Under DDP the seller has already paid carriage through delivery.
RecoveryMatch the sales contract term to the B/L freight clause. If it reads "freight prepaid" and the term is DDP, the DTHC invoice is misdirected.
02 · billed by Customs broker or the tax authority
DDP makes the seller the importer of record for duty purposes, but a foreign seller often cannot register locally, so the broker enters the buyer instead.
RecoveryCheck the entry summary against the term. Duty paid by the buyer on a DDP purchase is a reimbursable cost, and in the EU a non-established seller cannot lawfully be the declarant.
03 · billed by Customs broker
Clearance is a seller obligation under DDP, yet the broker invoices whoever appointed it locally.
RecoveryRe-bill to the seller with the broker invoice and the purchase order term attached.
04 · billed by Carrier or terminal
Free time runs against the seller until delivery under DDP. Storage accrued while the seller’s clearance stalls is not the importer’s cost.
RecoveryRebuild the clock day by day against the discharge and gate records, then attribute the stalled days to the party that caused them.
05 · billed by Broker, on the duty disbursement
Government fees ride along with the duty entry, and the broker adds a percentage disbursement fee for advancing the cash — on money the seller owed.
RecoveryRecover the fee and the disbursement percentage together; both follow the duty obligation.
06 · billed by Drayage carrier
DDP includes delivery to the named place. Accessorials generated on that final leg are inside the seller’s scope unless the buyer caused the delay.
RecoverySplit the accessorial log by cause; the buyer only owns days it caused at its own door.
A DDP price bundles goods, freight, duty and delivery into one number, which makes it impossible to see what the freight and duty actually cost. Unwind it before you compare quotes: strip freight and duty out to reach the customs value, then rebuild the landed cost from the parts.
Rebuild it in the landed cost calculatorThe seller. DDP is the only Incoterm where the seller carries import clearance, duty and import VAT/GST all the way to the named place of delivery.
Often not. In the EU the declarant generally must be established in the customs territory, and in the US a foreign importer of record needs a customs bond and a resident agent. When that is not arranged, the broker names the buyer and the DDP term quietly breaks.
DAP is usually cleaner. Under DAP the buyer expects to clear and pay duty, so the paperwork matches reality. DDP looks simpler but creates a gap between who is billed and who owes, and that gap is where charges leak.
Yes, where the sales term and the invoice disagree. The recovery route is a re-bill to the seller with the carrier or broker invoice, the bill of lading freight clause and the purchase order term attached.
It changes what has to be deducted. A DDP price includes freight, duty and delivery, so those elements must be stripped out to reach the dutiable value — otherwise duty is calculated on duty.
Send the invoices, the bill of lading and the purchase order. We match each charge to the party that owned it under the term, and file what is recoverable. The audit is free and our fee is 20% of what comes back.
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